Chapter 3: The Deceived Girl in the 1970s: Fake vs. Real Daughter Story (3)

In the morning, everyone began to get up, and Ye Xiaoxiao got up as well.

“Xiaoxiao, are you feeling better?”

Hearing the voice, Xiaoxiao turned to look; it was the female educated youth who had helped her yesterday.

Xiaoxiao smiled slightly and replied, “Thank you for yesterday, Sister Xiuxiu. I’m feeling much better.”

Wang Xiuxiu gave a faint smile and waved her hand. “Don’t mention it. We’re all educated youth sent to the countryside together. Helping each other is what we should do.”

Xiaoxiao nodded and started washing up.

She had always believed in repaying kindness with kindness and enmity with enmity. “If others respect me a foot, I’ll return a yard; if they wrong me a foot, I’ll return ten.”

After she washed up, Xiaoxiao followed everyone for breakfast—a thin vegetable porridge and black flour mantou.

A male comrade spoke up, “Comrade Ye Xiaoxiao, you went to rest directly yesterday because you weren’t feeling well. There’s still a bit of time now, and since everyone’s here, let’s do introductions.”

Ye Xiaoxiao nodded. “Thank you.”

The male comrade nodded. “I’ll start with myself. My name is Zhou Weiguo, from Hu City. I’ve been in the countryside for four years, the longest among all of us. I’m also the head of the educated youth house.”

Then he looked at the next person.

“My name is Wang Meiling; I’m the female head at the post. I am from Hu Province and have been here for over three years. Come to me if you need anything.”

“I’m Liu Dachuan, from Chuan Province. I’ve been here for one year.”

Ye Xiaoxiao recalled that the place they’d been sent was in Chuan Province, right? So this was a local?

Liu Dachuan saw Ye Xiaoxiao looking at him and grinned. “Yeah, I’m local, but my home’s not close either. It takes a whole day on the road to get here.”

Xiaoxiao nodded. In her past life, she was from Yu City, which used to fall under Chuan Province too, right?

But this was a book world. Even the leaders were different. Who knew if the geography matched reality?

The others introduced themselves: Zhou Jianjun from Hu City, two years; Long Lingling from Jing City, one year; Wei Jingchuan from Jing City, one year; and Liu Lili from An City, one year.

Then came the five who had just arrived together this time.

Ye Xiaoxiao and Wang Xiuxiu from Yun City, Zheng Jun from Jin City, and Ma Jun from Liao City.

Ye Xiaoxiao thought, “Wow, people from all over the country. It’s like university again.”

After everyone got to know each other, it was time to go to work. The veteran educated youths went off to the fields. Newcomers were allowed a day to rest and get settled.

Ye Xiaoxiao asked Wang Xiuxiu, “Xiuxiu, I’m planning to walk around the village to get familiar with the living environment. Want to come?”

Wang Xiuxiu nodded. Zheng Jun and Ma Jun chimed in too, “We’ll come along too.”

The old, educated youths had told them a bit about the situation yesterday. Today was a good chance to take a look.

Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, was completely clueless.

To be honest, yesterday when she received the plot and memories and found herself in the body of someone with such a saintly glow, she might as well save all sentient beings. Hence, she instantly lost the will to live.

But to suicide? She didn’t have the guts.

So it’s better to cling to life than seek death.

On the bright side, she had become ten years younger. She was 27 in her past life; the original host was only 17. That’s a gain, right?

She had older brothers at home, so she wasn’t worried. And if the original host had transmigrated to her world, even less of a concern.

After all, even though the original host’s parents and adoptive parents treated her terribly, she still cared for them in old age.

Given how much her own parents doted on her, the original host would surely give them her heart and soul.

Otherwise, that saintly aura would be wasted.

As for the original host’s family? Since both sides had cut ties, that was perfect for her; she wouldn’t recognize a single one of them.

She wanted to see whether, without this tragic sucker of a girl, they could still live happily ever after.

Stepping out of the educated youth house, she looked at the golden fields of rice and wheat in the distance, inhaling the fragrant scent of grain. It was really pleasant.

Setting aside the busy farm work, if this were a field trip for writing in her past life, she could’ve easily written several thousand words just soaking in the atmosphere.

She had grown up in the countryside as a child, and although she didn’t do much hard labor, she knew this season was extremely busy.

The timing of their arrival was really unfortunate. Rice, corn, wheat, rapeseed, and various soybeans—everything seemed to be harvested now.

All summer and fall would be full of labor, with barely a moment’s rest. Winter was a little better, but you still had to sow and harvest grain.

Actually, the whole year seemed busy. No wonder transmigration novels always sent people to the northeast.

Heard they got half a year off due to too much cold in winter to work, but otherwise it was pretty chill.

They reached the team leader’s house, one of the only two brick-and-tile homes in the village. The other belonged to the party secretary. Their new houses were side by side, with a row of six blue-brick rooms looking very imposing.

Other families had houses of mixed stone and brick or all stone. Then came wooden houses, and then the worst were made of dirt walls.

Most were two-story buildings. Single-story homes were rare.

The educated youth house they were staying in was a dirt-wall house with one door, no windows, and poor lighting inside.

After a quick survey, it was clear their living conditions were the worst.

When they arrived at the team leader’s house, they realized none of them had brought a gift—probably a faux pas.

Four of them—not one thought of it. Xiaoxiao figured that was kind of impressive, in a way.

Well, they were already here, so they should go in and ask. They could make up for it later.

As they stepped inside, they saw an older auntie feeding chickens. The others stood frozen, so Xiaoxiao stepped forward to greet her. “Auntie, is the team leader home?”

Honestly, she was mildly socially anxious and terrible with strangers. But judging by the other three, she couldn’t count on them.

Moments like this made her long for an extroverted friend.

The auntie said, “You must be the new educated youths. The team leader sent everyone to work. You’ll find him at the office in a bit.”

Xiaoxiao smiled and thanked her. “Thanks, Auntie. We’re looking for wooden basins and boxes. Can we get them here in the village?”

The auntie nodded. “My eldest and second sons both do carpentry. I’ll take you to see.”

The four of them followed her out.

They came to a set of four large wooden houses. Wang Xiuxiu asked, “Auntie, are these houses yours too?”

The auntie nodded proudly. In this village, her household’s living conditions were unmatched—even the Party secretary’s family couldn’t compare.

“These are the old family houses. Two elder sons have one room each. One room is a workshop for the eldest and second sons. Another room is shared by the third and fourth sons.”

Ye Xiaoxiao said, “Auntie, you’re amazing. Your four sons are all quite successful.”

The auntie laughed. “Not just sons, I have a daughter too. She’s married and living in the town now. My third son’s a factory worker at the textile mill; the fourth teaches at the commune elementary school. They’ve all done pretty well.”

Ye Xiaoxiao gave her a thumbs-up.

The others were also impressed.

The auntie, brimming with pride, opened a door. “Come in and take a look. Not to brag, but my eldest and second sons’ woodwork is among the best in the county. Lots of city folks have their wedding furniture made by them.”

The group nodded and began to look through the items.

Ye Xiaoxiao examined them, and they were indeed well-crafted. Some had been varnished with tung oil. Even the unfinished ones were sanded smooth.

She picked a washbasin, a foot basin, a face-washing stand, and two lockable boxes—one for clothes, one for food.

There were no bath barrels, which made sense. People usually just used large basins; barrels used too much water. Xiaoxiao also picked a pair of water buckets, as it would make bathing easier.

But she didn’t pick everything at once; she’d come back later for more. It was in the same village, after all.

Once everyone had finished choosing, Xiaoxiao looked around. Sure enough, she’d picked the most. The others only got a basin and a box each.

Xiaoxiao thought, “Do they wash their face and feet with the same basin?”

Then she remembered—as a child, that wasn’t the case either. More likely, the same basin was used for feet and bathing.

She asked, “Have you all made your choices?”

Everyone nodded. Xiaoxiao didn’t press further and turned to the auntie, “Auntie, how do we trade for these?”

The auntie glanced at the items and quoted prices: “Wood basin—1 yuan. Large box—5 yuan. Small box—3 yuan. Water bucket—2 yuan each. Stand—2 yuan.”

No one knew if that was expensive or not. Since she said it, they paid.

The others spent 6 yuan each. Xiaoxiao spent 16 yuan. The auntie even gifted her a box stand frame for placing boxes.

Seeing that Xiaoxiao couldn’t carry everything, the auntie offered, “What’s your name, little educated youth? When my sons get back, I’ll have them deliver your things.”

Xiaoxiao quickly said, “That’d be wonderful, Auntie. My name is Ye Xiaoxiao. I’ll trouble your sons, then.”

The auntie smiled. “Alright. Everyone here calls me Auntie Tan, so you can call me that too. If you ever need anything, just come find me.”

Xiaoxiao nodded with a smile. “Thank you in advance. Once I’m settled, I’ll come visit you properly.”

This was the team leader’s wife—definitely someone she needed to build a good relationship with.

Cultural and Linguistic Notes

1. 1. Party Branch Secretary— In a village, this person held real power and often ranked higher than the nominal team leader.

1. 1. Tung oil— a traditional Chinese wood finish made from the seeds of the tung tree. Used to protect and waterproof wooden surfaces.